Buy, Consume, Throw Away, Don't Worry Where It All Ends Up
Nicholas Lawrence The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there is an island of plastic. Plastic bags, water bottles, packaging, anything you can think of. Ragged and torn from the ocean and the sun, this island of plastic exists. It’s called the Great Pacific Garbage patch and it’s not the only one. Five of these plastic islands are believed to be in the world’s oceans [4]. Although estimates vary and the size of the patch changes with currents, the garbage patch can be approximated as roughly twice the size of Texas [4]. These islands not only represent the wastefulness of our society but pose a great risk to marine life. Out of all these garbage islands, the Pacific Garbage Patch has received the most research. However, there is not enough data on the other garbage patches to assess the state of the world’s oceans at large. The stakeholders in this issue are island communities near gyres, ocean side communities, consumers of fish products and fishing communities.
We live in a consumer society. When we’re done with something we throw it away. This is a problem caused by many products none more so than plastic. Plastic doesn’t degrade very well. It lasts for decades and is used in a finite product cycle. The US alone consumed 30 million tons of plastic in 2009 [2]. 7% of this gets recycled, 50% gets buried in landfills [2, 3]. The rest is claimed by nature and ultimately ends up being washed into the world’s oceans. There, ocean currents carry floating objects around in a slow moving circle called a gyre. Because of this gyre, objects accumulate at its center. This gives rise to Pacific Garbage Patch. Most of the plastic that washes out into the pacific ends up in the center of the North Pacific Gyre.
Plastic does photodegrade. UV sunlight along with wave action work to break apart plastic objects. However the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments, yet molecularly all the fragments are still plastic [1]. Eventually these fragments become small enough to be ingested by marine life. The majority of the garbage patch isn’t actually floating junk that can be seen from a ship but million upon million little pieces of plastic that look like confetti floating in the water [4].
Marine animals can become stuck or entangled plastic debris which may adversely affect their ability to survive. As plastics float around the ocean they absorb PCBs, DDT and other pesticides, PAHs and many hydrocarbons washed through our watersheds [3]. Marine animals, through involuntary or mistaken ingestion, will eat these plastic fragments. There these chemicals can then leach into the organism bodies. Researchers have found that fish tissues contain many chemicals found in plastic [4]. In addition to being toxic, these plastic fragments can also be mistaken by the endocrine system for estradiol and cause hormonal disruptions [1]. Lastly plastic particles can bioaccumulate up the food chain which may ultimately end up affecting humans [4].
There have been some efforts to clean up the garbage patch. There is the GPGPT treaty which was writtend by the GPGPT organization. All countries are invited to sign the treaty and by doing so they admit partial responsibility for the garbage patch and will make an effort to clean it up [1]. So far only about 15 micronations have signed the treaty [15]. That coupled with the prominent christian overtones of the GPGPT make the treaty wholly useless [5]. The organization is unlikely to get much international support or acceptance by the UN with such religious overtones. However in 2008 three San Franciscans founded project Kaisei to study and clean up the garbage patch. By 2009 the Kaisei project launched two vessels to determine the feasibility and cost of commercial cleanup [1].
Our plastic use is damaging the world’s oceans and making fish and other marine life toxic. It seems almost nowhere is safe from human’s doings. Not only does this garbage patch represent the wastefulness of our lives, but also our ignorance for the environment that we depend on. Ever piece of plastic that goes into the ocean represents a resource wasted that must be replaced by obtaining and refining more oil. And if this patch continues to grow, we’ll pay the price with a reduction of fish safe for consumption. If we don’t take action our oceans will steadily become more and more clogged with plastic debris. The exact effects of plastic waste on marine life has yet to be fully determined, however the introduction of human garbage will most certainly affect the ecosystem adversely.
Nicholas Lawrence
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch
In the middle of the Pacific Ocean, there is an island of plastic. Plastic bags, water bottles, packaging, anything you can think of. Ragged and torn from the ocean and the sun, this island of plastic exists. It’s called the Great Pacific Garbage patch and it’s not the only one. Five of these plastic islands are believed to be in the world’s oceans [4]. Although estimates vary and the size of the patch changes with currents, the garbage patch can be approximated as roughly twice the size of Texas [4]. These islands not only represent the wastefulness of our society but pose a great risk to marine life. Out of all these garbage islands, the Pacific Garbage Patch has received the most research. However, there is not enough data on the other garbage patches to assess the state of the world’s oceans at large. The stakeholders in this issue are island communities near gyres, ocean side communities, consumers of fish products and fishing communities.
We live in a consumer society. When we’re done with something we throw it away. This is a problem caused by many products none more so than plastic. Plastic doesn’t degrade very well. It lasts for decades and is used in a finite product cycle. The US alone consumed 30 million tons of plastic in 2009 [2]. 7% of this gets recycled, 50% gets buried in landfills [2, 3]. The rest is claimed by nature and ultimately ends up being washed into the world’s oceans. There, ocean currents carry floating objects around in a slow moving circle called a gyre. Because of this gyre, objects accumulate at its center. This gives rise to Pacific Garbage Patch. Most of the plastic that washes out into the pacific ends up in the center of the North Pacific Gyre.
Plastic does photodegrade. UV sunlight along with wave action work to break apart plastic objects. However the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments, yet molecularly all the fragments are still plastic [1]. Eventually these fragments become small enough to be ingested by marine life. The majority of the garbage patch isn’t actually floating junk that can be seen from a ship but million upon million little pieces of plastic that look like confetti floating in the water [4].
Marine animals can become stuck or entangled plastic debris which may adversely affect their ability to survive. As plastics float around the ocean they absorb PCBs, DDT and other pesticides, PAHs and many hydrocarbons washed through our watersheds [3]. Marine animals, through involuntary or mistaken ingestion, will eat these plastic fragments. There these chemicals can then leach into the organism bodies. Researchers have found that fish tissues contain many chemicals found in plastic [4]. In addition to being toxic, these plastic fragments can also be mistaken by the endocrine system for estradiol and cause hormonal disruptions [1]. Lastly plastic particles can bioaccumulate up the food chain which may ultimately end up affecting humans [4].
There have been some efforts to clean up the garbage patch. There is the GPGPT treaty which was writtend by the GPGPT organization. All countries are invited to sign the treaty and by doing so they admit partial responsibility for the garbage patch and will make an effort to clean it up [1]. So far only about 15 micronations have signed the treaty [15]. That coupled with the prominent christian overtones of the GPGPT make the treaty wholly useless [5]. The organization is unlikely to get much international support or acceptance by the UN with such religious overtones. However in 2008 three San Franciscans founded project Kaisei to study and clean up the garbage patch. By 2009 the Kaisei project launched two vessels to determine the feasibility and cost of commercial cleanup [1].
Our plastic use is damaging the world’s oceans and making fish and other marine life toxic. It seems almost nowhere is safe from human’s doings. Not only does this garbage patch represent the wastefulness of our lives, but also our ignorance for the environment that we depend on. Ever piece of plastic that goes into the ocean represents a resource wasted that must be replaced by obtaining and refining more oil. And if this patch continues to grow, we’ll pay the price with a reduction of fish safe for consumption. If we don’t take action our oceans will steadily become more and more clogged with plastic debris. The exact effects of plastic waste on marine life has yet to be fully determined, however the introduction of human garbage will most certainly affect the ecosystem adversely.
Work Cited